“Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold. . . but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” 1 Peter 1:18, 19.

All the gold and silver in heaven and earth could not redeem man, or buy him back, after he had once sold himself to Satan. Nothing but the precious life of God in His only begotten Son could do it. His blood alone could cleanse from sin; His life alone could swallow up death.

The promise that He would come and die to free man from the power of Satan, was the only hope of a lost world. His was the only name under heaven given among men, whereby we could be saved.

All who would believe this promise, and confess their sins, and every day trust in the blood of Christ to cleanse them from sin, and in the power of His life to keep them from sin,—they should be the free sons of God, and finally have everything restored to them that they had lost.

The pure, gentle, lovely Son of God had given Himself to die for ungrateful man,—the just for the unjust, the innocent for the guilty. Not a spot of sin could be found upon Him, not a blemish, or fault, of any kind. He was to be brought “as a lamb to the slaughter.” Guilty man was to be redeemed by the precious blood of Christ, “as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”

God did not want men to forget this wonderful promise, for if he forgot it, it would do him no good. He could never be saved unless he remembered it and really believed it and confessed his sins.

God therefore gave him something to do that would continually and most vividly remind him of the Saviour. If he did it just as God told him to, it would also show that he believed the promise and accepted God’s Son for his Saviour.

God told him that he should build an altar of earth, of rough stone, lay wood upon it, kill a little lamb that was without spot or blemish, and lay it upon the altar and offer it up as a burnt offering,—and confess his sins. And God would hear him and cleanse him from sin, not with the blood of the lamb that he had slain, but with the blood of the Lamb of God in whom he had shown his faith. The little innocent lamb that lay bleeding before him could not save him, but it reminded him of the Lamb of God who could save him, and who was to be slain because of his sins.

How sad Adam must have felt when he first raised his hand to take the life of an innocent lamb, and realized that his sin was going to take the life of the spotless Lamb of God! Never before had he looked upon a scene like that. Never before had death visited the fair new earth. And never could it have come to man or beast if he had obeyed his Creator’s voice. He must have realized then as he never had before the greatness of his sin, and the awfulness of death.

But oh, as he raised his eyes to heaven and remembered the promise that the blood of God’s Lamb was to save him, how his heart must have thrilled with joy and how he must have bowed in wonder and adoration before the One who had loved him enough to give His own life to redeem him from eternal death!

And you, my dear child, have as much reason to be glad and thankful as Adam had. The promise was for you as much as for him. Look up, and think often of the “Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” Whosoever will believe and yield to Him may at last stand before the throne of God with the happy company to have washed their robes from all sin and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

If you confess your sins and turn away from them with all your heart, He says that “He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Will you let Him cleanse you and give you His own pure life of righteousness?

1. To whom did man belong when he was first placed upon the earth? Luke 3:38, last clause.
2. Describe him, and tell what belonged to him. Gen. 1:26; chap 2; Ps. 8:5-9.
3. To whom did he sell himself? 1 John 3:8.
4. How did he sell himself to Satan? Rom. 6:16.
5. Did he better his condition in any way? Isa. 52:3; Gen. 3:16-24.
6. Must he always stay in that hopeless condition?
7. Who promised to buy him back, or redeem him? Gen. 3:15; 1 Cor. 6:19, 20.
8. How much did He promise to pay for him? 1 Peter 1:18, 19; Acts 20:28.
9. Would not gold or silver do? Why not?
10. Could not some other person do it? Acts 4:12.
11. What made him willing to pay so much? John 3:16.
12. Like what was He to be led to the slaughter? Isa. 53:7.
13. Like what kind of lamb? 1 Peter 1:18, 19.
14. In what way was He like a lamb that had no spot or blemish?
15. What did God tell man to do that he might not forget about this precious Lamb of God, and that he might show his faith in Him?
16. Would anything else do for this offering as well as a lamb?
17. Why would not fruit or grains do as well?
18. Was man to offer this, as the heathen do their gods, to coax Him to feel kindly toward him?—No, for He already loved him, and was giving His life to save him.
19. If when he did it just as God said, confessing his sins and believing that the blood of Christ cleansed him, what blessing would come to him while performing this service?
20. Was it the lamb that cleansed him from sin? What, then?
21. How do you suppose Adam felt when he offered his first lamb? Why?
22. What had caused death to come into the world? Rom. 5:12.
23. But how must he have felt when he remembered the promise that the blood of God’s Lamb would save him from eternal death?
24. Had Adam any more reason to be glad and thankful than you have? Why not? Heb. 2:9.

The Present Truth – April 12, 1894
E. J. Waggoner

Story in pdf  The Lamb of God